Testimony

Ulrike

I was on NETS 5 from October 1999 until March 2000. In those days it stood for "the Luke Nine Eleven Training School". Now it also stands for "Never Ever The Same" which is absolutely true!

In those months I experienced so much healing and deliverance that it really made a new person out of me. Or better to say that eventually I was finally free to be me! In many situations I was able to apply what we have learned - for myself and for others - even with the kids (age 3 to 6) in our Christian kindergarten where I have worked for 10 years now. But that's a different story...

Today I would like to share what I experienced in spring 2007 when I did stage 3 of the NETS school. It shows God's surprising mercy and His humor in a very special way. On one of the weekends there was a course about sex and sexuality and the stage 3 students were asked to help as co-counsellors. First I wasn't even sure if I could do this because I had a terrible headache, but after the Ministry Office leader prayed for me, it was gone. Before we started we were told that there are always many people coming for prayer ministry during that course and therefore we should not spend too much time with one person.

Ministry time began and our first counsellee shared with us that since childhood, her eyes were always drawn to unclean pictures. While I listened, the Holy Spirit put something in my mind: I had the same problem. Whenever there was an unclean picture, my eyes were drawn to it and I could hardly get it out of my mind again. I do not have a TV and I definitely don't buy those kind of magazines, but pictures like that are found in many places (at least in Germany), places like advertisements in the streets or on the counter of a gas station where it is almost impossible to avoid seeing them. I had received prayer into this area twice but it hadn't changed.

I remembered something that happened to me when I was about eleven. A neighbour on our camping site came into our caravan when I and a friend were there without my parents for a couple of hours. He showed us a pornography magazine - page by page. I was shocked, full of fear and shame but at the same time also curious. After a while he left. I didn't tell this to my parents because of the shame and guilt I felt.

I knew that this was an important key to get free - something for me to bring into a ministry appointment soon! However, at the time I kept on listening to and praying for our counsellee. Then a second person came but after that, to our surprise no one else came. The lead counsellor and I were talking quietly while I sensed more and more intensely that NOW was the time to get rid of that old stuff. I tried to convince the Holy Spirit that I would get into trouble if I received ministry in this situation but He didn't seem to change His mind! So carefully I shared the whole thing with the lead counsellor, assuring her that it would need only a quick prayer, and that we could stop immediately if someone came to us. Praise God she was willing to pray for me.

While she was doing so, I was reminded of a disgusting figure that my father brought home one day when I was maybe ten. I told her this and again she prayed for me. Then I couldn't believe it, but there was a third incident that I was reminded of next. Again it was my father bringing something home that he bought in a sex shop when I was 15. A quick prayer into this and - can you believe it? - a fourth situation came to my mind. This time it was a stranger who touched me once in an inappropriate way when I was nine or so.

While the counsellor was also praying into this I was also praying: please not another thing!!! Amazingly there was no counsellee coming. Neither to us nor to the other prayer teams. I was so embarrassed. Not because of the things that happened in the past, but because I was receiving ministry at a time when I should have been the one to minister to others! God's grace is overwhelming. This whole situation did not last longer than 10 to 15 minutes but it brought change for a lifetime.

One year later:

A friend and I went to see a funny movie that was suitable for children of 6 and older. We went to the movie theatre, only to leave it again after 20 minutes because there was one scene after the other with a very clear sexual meaning. I was angry - not only because of the waste of money but also because I knew that I had those pictures in my mind again.

The next morning as I was waking up, I realized that none of the pictures were there. Instead I saw a picture from the Holy Spirit: a piece of wood with 4 hooks screwed into it. Then I saw the same wood but without the hooks. And I understood that those four situations described above were like hooks in my soul. Whenever I saw something unclean -even when it was unintentional - it got stuck on one of those hooks and my eyes were drawn to it. BUT NOW THE HOOKS WERE NOT THERE ANYMORE! My, was I happy to realize this! A great joy over the power of the blood of Jesus filled my heart. Finally I was free! This sense of being drawn to those pictures is gone also. For instance now when I drive by an advertisement showing almost naked women it doesn't affect me anymore. What a relief! Isn't He amazing?

A few months later I had the chance to share this for the first time during a teaching time. I got myself a flat piece of wood and screwed hooks into it. I made loops into some shoelaces. They symbolized the pictures. Without the hooks the shoelaces could not stay on the wood. My goal was to make clear how important it is to get to the root of the problem instead of praying into the symptoms only!

By the way: During NETS 5 I learned to ask what I call the one million dollar question "What is the root of this problem and when did it came into your/my life?" The answer to this question shown by the Holy Spirit is always the beginning of being healed and/or getting free. And that is worth a million dollars!

I could write a book about how NETS has affected my life. Maybe when I retire...